Family cars for 3?? Help!

[LauraRuralMumOf3]

We are expecting number 3 and I currently have a Nissan x trail which I love but it won’t take 3 car seats. Children will be 4, 2 and newborn. What family cars do people have that take 3 car seats and have a big boot?

Audi Q7

S Max here too. Really pleased with it (only got it recently). You can fit all 3 comfortably in the middle row of seats and then have tons of space in the boot or two extra seats for giving lifts. We got ours second hand and there are loads available which meant the price was really reasonable. Fords are always pretty safe and reliable and you know what you’re getting.

Just got a touran for this exact thing, 4, 2, and newborn all rear facing in it

We have a Peugeot 3008 which I would highly recommend.

Before that I had a Peugeot SW estate, boot is HUGE.

4 kids - we have a Citroen Berlingo and a Citroen Spacetourer.
Before that we had a couple of 'smaller' 7 seats.
The Citroen Spacetourer is massive obviously but absolutely fab. Boot is big enough for the kids bikes + 1 adult bike when the last row is folded.

[quote Bluetonic41]@WatchWatch 13kg is very roughly the size of a 3yr old. .Regardless of the ideal recommendations there are very few people who have a 3yr old rear facing.[/quote]
I agree. Mine are teenagers now but pretty sure they were forward facing before the age of one. Although they were ten pound born tbf.

Couldn't live without my Xc90!

Kia sedona- love it!

Could you get a Multimac seat? Cheaper than a new car!

Citroen C4 Picasso if you don't want a people carrier

We’ve got an Audi Q7. I like the fact the three seats are separate and there is loads of space in the back. We used to have a multimac in a bmw 3 series. It was ok but I was quite glad to get rid of it.

Following with interest!

Does the XC90 have 3 isofix points? Was keen but then someone said it doesn't, only 2 with space in the middle for a 3rd seat.

It depends on your car seats and whether you want isofix for all three. MPVs are good for three but if you want a nice SUV it's the Audi Q7 or the Peugeot 5008 vote from me.

VW Sharan with automatic sliding doors. We have 4 kids the eldest is over 6ft. It’s got space for them all to grow and can fit 5 isofix car seats. Great big boot space, even with all seats up you still can fit a buggy in the back.

We bought it brand new and hope it will see us through until the kids are old enough to all take driving lessons.

Toomuchleapord. What didn’t you like about the Multimac seat?

I used to have an smax and now have a Skoda Kodiaq. I recommend them both!

@LauraRuralMumOf3 re. Multimac: we had the 4 seat version. These are the bad points: The seats are tiny so the kids are really squashed in. The seatbelt straps don’t run very smoothly so to tighten them you have to turn round from the front seat, you can’t really tighten when stood at the side of the car. I hated the minimac which is the baby car seat as it’s very upright as you can’t carry it round with you (you can in theory but very difficult).
However, the main benefit is it allows you to keep your normal car and not need a big car like people carrier or SUV. When I found out I was expecting no. 3, we had a brand new BMW 3 series and it allowed us to keep that and we moved it into another BMW a few years later. It was a lot cheaper than swapping the car. We have an Audi Q7 now which is better but cost a lot more!

The guy who invented the multimac came to our house to fit it and when we eventually sold it about 5 years later on eBay we got most of the money back.

Seat Alhambra here.

Electric sliding doors are great for access in car parks and narrow drives and there’s a decent amount of leg room for the 3.5yo to get past the two baby car seats situated at either side. Nice low boot for pram to go in too.

Not particularly spec’d or gutsy from a standing start; but from a practicality (and budget) perspective it was the best option for us.

Our Volvo has an inbuilt fold down toddler seat in the middle then 2 isofix attachments for either side.

@BertieBotts

15kg is the average 3yo. 13kg is more like 2yo.

(Just in case people were invested in the debate :o)

Another vote for Peugeot 5008. We also liked the boot size in the Hyundai i30 but didn't get as far as checking middle seat car seat suitability.

My 4.5 year old is only 15kg.

She was definitely around the 13kg mark at 3. They’re not all the same!

She RF until she was 4.

We had an smax and an XC90. The smax was almost perfect but I wish it had sliding doors. The XC90 felt like driving a tank but had less space for the seats. It only really works if you’re willing to use the inbuilt booster seat (not high back booster) in the middle and have narrower child seats. I think newer models are worse than older ones because the side seats are more sculpted.